Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1887-06-05
ANGLICAN BELLIES or LONG
AGO.


PAiAAzsefrAfa Tsnles.
Turning one morning from a coller-
tlon q Old journals an1 papers which
recorded the sayings Of some Of our
gaF aneestofs, the helies and keaux Of
ne past century. 10 an essay setting
ioftn the superior vantage ground
Ehich middle life afforded, i vas sud
denly borne IN upon the writer how
very youthful we're these ancestors
Snom We look back upon with = GER
tam awe and reverence. Mere boys
ana giris, IN fact. were many Of those
WHO IN the past were pushed forward
INTO responsible positions in lie At
an age when girls Of the present day
are stlll in the School-r0oFn. our grand
mothers were entering into social en-
payments, and we're often married az
sixteen OF seventeen Thus early as
Stunning the grave responsibilities Of
tite. they were relegated 70 caps and
Snlitlng-w work atthirty-fiTe Or forty, or
ended their career At an age when wo-
men OF today feel that life is opening
Tor them broader fields Of usefulness
and enjoyment.
Mrs William Bingham, born Ann
Willing, Of Philadelphia, married at
sixteen the wealthlest man in the
province, and, after being co1rted,
feted and admired at home and abroad,
ended her brilliant career at thirty
seven.
Miss Margaret S hipySen was leading
Philadelphia belle At seventeen. and,
early married 20 General Benedict Ar
mold, all the sorrow and disgrace OF
her position came upon her while she
was staH girl in years. Beautiful,
petted, the darling Of a large circle Of
relatives and friends, this school girl
was rushed into circumstances that re-
quired the judgment Of mature years,
and because she failed 10 act with the
wisdom Of Minerva, bold things were
said about her History, however.
seems to have indicated the character
OF Margaret Arnold. and proved her
TO have been possessed OF qualities OF
mind aud heart that rendered her wOr-
thy OF far happier fate than that
purchased for " the idol and only wish
OF his soul by ArRold. who thus adj
dressed Miss Shipper in a love letter
so bOmbastic that il might well have
Disguised her at the start. 1t Ger
tainly would, had she been a few years
Older
Mrs. John Todd was "A years old
when she married James Madison, and
a. this not very advanced age had been
through quite a full career Of Quaker
dom as Pretty Dolly Payne Of widow
-hoOd,-and of subsequent belledom in
Philadelphia before she became the
wife Of the future President of the
United States Mrs. Madison was not
much of a Quakeress in later life. She
delighted in bright colors and gay
scenes. and was ambitious of making
her husband 5 administration a brilliant
social success. In old age she is de-
scribed as putting rouge on her cheeks
and wearing a turban. She tried to
be quite an old lady, and 20 the last
possessed the social charm of French
woman.
Among womankind at home and
abroad the difference IS even more
striking. AT what age a woman was,
IN old time. considered paSse, we are
almost afraid to say. Professor Lewis, \
in his life Of Goethe, speaks of thirty
three as fascinating period in wO-
mans life, as that in which she reaches
the full development of her powers of
mind and body. Such a sentiment
would once have been considered rank |
heresy, yet thirty three was the age at
which the FRAU Won Stein proved dan
gerous to the heart Of the poet, who |
had survived her more youthful charms |
OF a Gretchen, a Charlotte and a Lilli. |
Marie Antoinette ended her eventful |
life when only a few years beyond |
Lewis's ideal age. Dore fully realized |
that. she was a child, not yet fifteen, |
when taken from a nursery full of |
brothers and sisters to be placed in the |
full blaze and glitter Of court, the |
most brilliant, the most artificial, and |
at the same time, the most rigid and |
exacting in the oeremonials of any in |
Europe II was upon the sayings and |
ioings OF this gay, tine-looking girl |
that the tongues OF the old court Cos
sips were Turned loose n she some
times said and did foolish things, can
We wonder at il?